1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a data communication system which includes an information processing terminal, such as a personal computer (hereinafter abbreviated as a "PC") or the like, and a data communication apparatus connected to each other via an interface, and in which the data communication apparatus executes data communication in accordance with an instruction from the information processing terminal.
2. Background of the Invention
As a data communication system of this type, a system, in which a facsimile apparatus capable of operating even in a stand-alone state and a PC are connected to each other via a predetermined interface, and the facsimile apparatus performs calling processing and transmission processing in accordance with a request of calling and a request of transmission, respectively, from the PC, has been known.
Stand-alone facsimile apparatuses not connected to PC's, which, when a communication partner's apparatus having a telephone number assigned for facsimile transmission is not a facsimile apparatus but is a telephone set for general conversation due, for example, to a failure in input of the telephone number, automatically disable facsimile transmission to that telephone number in consideration of annoyance to the communication partner, have been known.
That is, when facsimile transmission cannot be normally performed including a busy state of the line although calling has been performed to an assigned communication partner, automatic redialing is usually performed about 3 to 5 times as a default operation until facsimile transmission is normally performed.
When a person responds instead of a facsimile apparatus because a wrong telephone number has been assigned, also, the communication partner will be annoyed if automatic dialing is performed.
In the following description, a case in which a person responds instead of a facsimile apparatus will be hereinafter termed "error dialing" corresponding to a typical cause of the case.
In one approach, a one-touch dial key capable of easily assigning a communication partner with a single button operation is used for inputting the telephone number of the partner. In such an approach, however, if a wrong telephone number is registered in the one-touch dial key, there is the possibility that the one-touch dial key is used several times until the user notices that the registered number is wrong.
In order to solve such a problem, stand-alone facsimile apparatuses, in which, for example, even if five redialing operations are set, when two probable error dialing operations are present, redialing is interrupted, and the used one-touch dial key and other dial keys where the same telephone number as that dial key is registered are disabled, have been provided.
There are two conventional types of facsimile systems, in which a PC and a facsimile apparatus are connected to each other, and which can execute facsimile transmission based on an instruction from the PC, with respect to facsimile transmission based on an instruction from the PC.
In one system, information relating to a communication partner and all image information relating thereto are stored together, and calling and transmission are thereafter performed. In another system, only information relating to the address and the like of a communication partner is stored, and transmission is performed after calling by sequentially receiving image information from the PC.
However, in conventional facsimile systems in which a PC and a facsimile apparatus are connected to each other and which can execute facsimile transmission based on an instruction from the PC, determination of error dialing and processing of disabling the error dialing as in the above-described stand-alone facsimile apparatuses are not performed.
That is, in most of facsimile systems in which a PC and a facsimile apparatus are connected to each other, software of the PC side controls a telephone directory having the same effect as the one-touch dial key in the stand-alone facsimile apparatuses. However, when facsimile transmission instructed using the telephone directory at the PC side results in error dialing, the telephone directory at the PC side is not disabled as in the case of the stand-alone facsimile apparatuses.
Furthermore, there is no such a system in which a disabled state due to error dialing applied to a one-touch dial key of the facsimile apparatus is applied to the telephone directory of the PC side, and the disabled state due to error dialing applied to the telephone directory at the PC side is applied to the one-touch dial key of the facsimile apparatus, to synchronize the disabled states of the dials at both sides.
In a facsimile system of a type in which only information relating to the address and the like of a communication partner is stored, and transmission is performed while sequentially receiving image information from the PC, in a conventional method of performing scheduling of transmission queue only by the main body of the apparatus, it is difficult to construct the above-described system of synchronizing the disabled states of dials at both sides.